December 30, 2016
Dear Maine Farmers
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is preparing to
conduct the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The Census of Agriculture is the
leading source of facts and figures about American agriculture. Conducted every
five years, the Census provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches
and the people who operate them. It is the only source of uniform,
comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the United
States.
The Maine Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is asking for your help to make the 2017
Census of Agriculture as accurate as possible. The USDA faces the major
challenge of maintaining a current mailing list of farmers. If you have never
received a Census of Agriculture or a survey questionnaire from NASS, please
take a couple minutes and provide NASS your contact information at https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts/.
Even if you do not think of
yourself as a farmer or rancher, please note that your operation is a
farm if it meets the Census of Agriculture definition – an operation that sold or normally would have sold $1,000 or more of
agricultural products in a year. If you own or rent agricultural
land, grow vegetables, grow horticultural or floricultural products, have fruit
or nut trees, cattle, horses, poultry, hogs, bees, aquaculture products, or
consider yourself a farmer or rancher, NASS needs to hear from you!
All individual information provided
to NASS is confidential and only used for statistical purposes. In accordance
with the Confidential Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A,
Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws, your responses will be
kept confidential and will not be disclosed in identifiable form to anyone
other than employees or agents. By law, every employee and agent has taken an
oath and is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both if he or she willfully
discloses ANY identifiable information about you or your operation.
If you have previously received a
Census of Agriculture or survey questionnaire from NASS then you will be
receiving you 2017 Census of Agriculture questionnaire in late December 2017 or
January 2018. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ronald
Dyer, Acting Director Bureau
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources
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